Service vehicles have been used in the waste industry to collect waste from a receptacle (e.g., from a dumpster or a wheeled tote) and to transport the waste to a final disposition location. A conventional service vehicle includes forks or arms that extend forward, rearward, and/or to the side of a bed. The forks engage corresponding features (e.g., pockets or slots) formed in each receptacle, such that the receptacle can be lifted and dumped into the bed. In some embodiments, a hydraulic system is operatively connected to the forks, such that the forks and receptacle can be moved with reduced effort.
It can be important to gather information about the receptacle and/or the waste collected from the receptacle during servicing. For example, some service providers bill their customers based on an amount of waste (e.g., a weight of the waste) collected from each customer's receptacle. In another example, compliance with particular regulations (e.g., roadway regulations, emissions regulations, recycling regulations, hazardous waste regulations, etc.) requires that information be collected in association with waste discarded by particular customers and/or transported to particular final disposition locations. In these examples (and in other examples), the information is collected by way of one or more sensors associated with the service vehicle. For example, a strain gauge could be mounted in the bed of the service vehicle or to a strut supporting the bed and used to measure a change in payload of the service vehicle due service at a particular customer location. In another example, a pressure sensor could be associated with the hydraulic system that is connected to the forks of the vehicle and used to measure a change in hydraulic pressure associated with an engaged receptacle. Other types of sensors may also be used.
Although the sensors used in conventional waste service vehicles may be appropriate for some applications, they can also be expensive, difficult to maintain, and prone to damage. In particular, in some situations, the information provided by the sensors may only be needed periodically and/or at a start of service for a new customer. Thereafter, the sensors may be idle. In these situations, permanently connected sensors are an expensive accessory. In addition, permanently connected sensors may be difficult to access during maintenance, making their repair and replacement costly. Further, conventional sensors are hardwired to associated power sources and/or controllers, and caution must be taken to avoid damaging the wiring.
The disclosed sleeve is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems of the prior art.